Many devices, having a photographing function, such as digital cameras or cellular phones sold in recent years have been provided with a flash (flash light) photographing mode. When flash photographing is performed using such devices in a dark environment such as dusk or night, subjects located at a relatively short distance which the flash light reaches are photographed at an adequate luminance or brightly, and subjects which the flash light does not reach are darkly photographed. Normally, adjustment of exposure at the time of photographing is performed on the basis of the luminance of the subject located at a short distance.
The luminance of a distant background and the like is darker than that of a near subject when viewed on a through-the-lens image. For this reason, when photographing is performed with intent to capture the atmosphere of the background viewed on a through-the-lens image, an image having a darkened background is often photographed.
Consequently, techniques for intuitively transmitting the ranges which the flash light reaches to users before taking a photograph are proposed. For example, JP-A-10-333235 discloses a technique for displaying a region of a subject located at a distance which the flash light is able to reach, when flash photographing is performed.